See No Evil

It’s springtime for Jew-haters. This week Oscar winning conspiracy theorist Oliver Stone joined Helen Thomas and Mel Gibson in the swelling ranks of out-of-the-closet celebrity Jew-haters. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Stone said that Adolf Hitler had been given a bum rap and that through “Jewish domination of the media,” the Jews have inflated the importance of the Holocaust and wrecked US foreign policy.

In the wake of criticism in Jewish circles, on Wednesday Stone’s publicist issued a mealy-mouthed clarification.

Stone failed to retract or amend his statement that “There’s a major lobby in the United States. They are hard workers. They stay on top of every comment, the most powerful lobby in Washington. Israel has ----- up United States foreign policy for years.”

He also did not retract his view that Jews use the Holocaust to control American foreign policy.

Stone simply referred to his claim that Jews make too much of the Holocaust because the Germans killed more Russians than Jews as “clumsy.”

He then broadened his initial allegation that Jews make too much of the Holocaust by allowing that we are joined in our efforts by non-Jews.

And since non-Jews are involved also, he was wrong to criticize us.

As Stone put it, “The fact that the Holocaust is still a very important, vivid and current matter today is, in fact, a great credit to the very hard work of a broad coalition of people committed to the remembrance of this atrocity.”

Stone still believes that the rounding up and exterminating of three-quarters of Europe’s Jews is really not as notable or morally troubling as high Russian wartime casualties, but it’s not solely Jews’ fault that people don’t share Stone’s views.

Even more despicable than Stone’s display of Jew-hatred was the thunderous silence of the media and the insistent attempts to justify his statements.

Arguably even more despicable than Stone’s display of Jew-hatred was the manner in which it was received. On the one hand, there was the thunderous silence of the media. And on the other hand there were the insistent, repeated attempts to justify his statements.

Readers’ talkbacks to write-ups of his remarks were rife with assertions that Stone’s statements were not bigoted. Many agreed that Jews dominate the media, and since they believe this is true, they argued that saying so is not a bigoted act. Others claimed that while Stone’s statements were inaccurate, there is no evidence that he hates Jews and therefore, his statements weren’t bigoted. At any rate, Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times and many others have argued, it would be wrong for Stone to be discredited for his attacks against Jews.

It is difficult to imagine that if someone trafficked in ethnic stereotypes about groups like blacks, and claimed that they wreck US foreign policy to serve their own nefarious aims, Goldstein and the talk-backers would defend him.

But then anti-Jewish bigotry has different rules than other hatreds.

Stone and his defenders are not alone in either their attitude towards Jews or their denial of their attitude towards Jews. Indeed, they are part of a worldwide trend.

Take the situation in Malmo, Sweden. Last Friday, Jew-haters set off firecrackers outside a synagogue in Malmo. The blasts came a day after Jew-haters posted a bomb threat on the wall of the synagogue for the second time in two weeks.

Malmo is a hotbed of anti-Jewish violence and the Jews of the city are fleeing in droves.

Yet in the face of all this, Malmo’s non-Jews cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that there is a problem with anti-Semitism in their city.

Even those who are supposed to be responsible for combating anti-Semitism refuse to acknowledge that Jews in Malmo are being attacked because they are Jews.

Bjorn Lagerback is the man in Malmo who is supposed to care about anti-Semitic violence.

Lagerback serves as the coordinator of the local forum in the city charged with combating hate crimes. In an interview with Malmo’s The Local cited by the World Jewish Congress, Lagerback tried to impress on the world that the bombing was serious. Not because it was violence aimed at Jews, of course.

No, according to Lagerback, this bombing is serious because it might hurt non-Jews. He said.

“We condemn this completely. Such an event is not just directed against the synagogue, but also at other targets that could be described as ethnic or religious.”

The acceptance of anti-Semitism has reached epidemic proportions.

Forget about the fact that only Malmo’s synagogues, and not its churches and mosques, require around the clock security. If no other ethnic or religious groups were targeted, would bombing synagogues no longer warrant condemnation? The acceptance of anti-Semitism has reached epidemic proportions.

In Amsterdam, anti-Semites are making the mundane act of walking around outside in broad daylight a dangerous prospect for Jews.

Jews are regularly attacked verbally and physically by anti-Semites as they walk on the streets of the Dutch capital.

In an attempt to catch and punish anti-Semitic thugs, the Amsterdam police force has dispatched policemen dressed as Jews to pound the pavement. The hope is that these decoys will be able to draw out the offenders and arrest them.

Apparently, some Dutch have a problem with punishing anti-Semitic attackers. As Paul Belien reported in the Brussels Journal, “Evelien van Roemburg, an Amsterdam counselor of the Green Left Party, says that using a decoy by the police amounts to [entrapment], which is itself a criminal offence under Dutch law.”

In other words, Van Roemburg thinks that people who walk around while appearing to be Jewish are asking for it.

Van Roemburg no doubt also believes that women in mini-skirts deserve to be raped.

All of this brings us to a discussion of the most endemic form of contemporary anti-Semitism: Anti-Zionism. There is no reason for anyone to be surprised that anti-Semites deny that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. After all, they deny that every other form of anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism. Why should anti-Zionism receive special treatment? It is self-evident that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.

Zionism after all is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. To say that Jews – uniquely among all the nations – have no right to freedom and self-determination is obviously anti-Semitic.

Anti-Semites give a variety of excuses to justify their rejection of the Jewish people’s right to freedom and sovereignty in our homeland. Sometimes they say they have no problem with Jewish nationalism per se. They are simply anti-nationalist generally. But remarkably, these anti-nationalist anti-Zionists invariably just happen to be outspoken supporters of Palestinian nationalism.

Moreover, it is curious that universalist anti-nationalists only have a special term to describe their opposition to Jewish nationalism. No one ever mentions being anti-Irishist, for instance.

When someone says they oppose Irish nationalism, the obvious conclusion is that they don’t like Irish people. Just so, people who are anti-French tend not to like French people. And yet, the anti-Zionists would have us believe that their opposition to the Jewish state has nothing to do with their feelings about Jews.

Beyond their nonsensical attempts to deny the fact that anti-Zionism is a specific rejection of a specific – that is Jewish – type of nationalism, there is the fact that anti-Zionists tend inevitably to drink from other anti-Jewish sewers as well.

Take former British parliamentarian Clare Short for example.

During her just ended career in the British Parliament, Short became known as an outspoken anti-Zionist. Short rejected Israel’s right to exist and castigated it for its “bloody, brutal and systematic annexation of land, destruction of homes and the deliberate creation of an apartheid system.”

But Short’s Israel kick didn’t end with her frequent condemnations of imaginary but lurid Israeli crimes. As time went by, Short began channeling centuries of British Jew-hatred. Like her forefathers who blamed Jews for rain, drought, plague and fire, Shore blamed Israel for global warming.

As she put it in a speech at the European Parliament three years ago, Israel “undermines the international community’s reaction to global warming.”

As Short saw it, European leaders are properly obsessed with attacking the Jewish state. But because Israel insists on existing and so requires Europeans to condemn it, Israel prevents the Europeans from attending to the threat of carbon that, if left unregulated, will “end the human race.”

So if the world boils over, the cauldron will be made in Israel.

One of the most prominent anti-Zionists today is Prof. Juan Cole from the University of Michigan.

Part of being a successful anti-Zionist involves claiming that Jews have no right to the land of Israel. So to be a good anti-Zionist, one needs to deny Jewish history.

To this end, in March Cole published a piece of historical fiction in the Salon online magazine.

Titled “Ten reasons why East Jerusalem does not belong to Israel,” Cole mixed half truths with flagrant lies to justify his denial of Jewish history and belittlement of the Jewish rights.

Cole wrote, “Jerusalem not only was not being built by the likely then non-existent ‘Jewish people’ in 1000 BCE, but Jerusalem probably was not even inhabited at that point in history. Jerusalem appears to have been abandoned between 1000 BCE and 900 BCE, the traditional dates for the united kingdom under David and Solomon.”

This assertion is so mendacious that it takes your breath away. As anyone who has actually been in Jerusalem can attest, it is all but impossible to be physically present in the oldest areas of the city and not bump into relics dating from between 1000 and 900 BCE.

Cole’s allegation is the academic equivalent of Louis Farakhan’s claim that white people are devils planted on earth by aliens. As an anti-Zionist anti-Semite, it was just a matter of time until Cole traveled into the fetid swamp of denying the historical record to facilitate his false claim that Jews are not a people and therefore are bereft of rights as a nation to our national homeland.

Anti-Semites have been wildly successful in whitewashing their bigotry.

And why shouldn’t he cover himself in anti-Semitic muck? So far, the stench has brought him great success. The very fact that I felt compelled to write an essay explaining why anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism and why anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism is depressing proof that anti-Semites have been wildly successful in whitewashing their bigotry.

What makes contemporary anti-Semitism unique is its purveyors’ great efforts to hide its very existence. Their motivation is clear. Outside the openly genocidal anti-Semitic Muslim world, most anti-Semites are self-described liberals who claim to oppose bigotry. For these people, pretending away their prejudice is the key to their continued claim to enlightenment.

And so the likes of Oliver Stone publish clarifications.

And Cole invents history. And the Europeans blame Jews and Israel and Zionism when Jews inside and outside Israel are assaulted and killed.

And I am sorry I wrote this column.

Because an audience that demands an explanation of why evil is evil is an audience that has already sided with evil.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 41

(41)
Anonymous,
July 17, 2017 2:43 PM

The victim card....

Sometimes Non Jews hate us based on lies and jealousy. Other times they hate us for many valid reasons. Werent were the founders of socialism, and communism? No we can't always blame the non Jews and say that it's their fault for hating us. When Jews are put in the lime light in a negative way and it's based on truth not fiction, we can not complain or make excuses for them. Bernie Madoff and many other in powerful positions have brought disgrace to us as a Jewish nation. How about the plain old Jew that rips a non Jew off or steals money from them? No we can't always play the victim card. We need to take responsibility as well for our own actions. Hashem sends people like Hitler, Haman and other evil people because as a whole we are not acting and behaving the way we should. We all need to ask ourselves are we behaving and treating each other with kindness and honesty? Remember non Jewish people have hire expectations of us. Hashem made it this way and it's up to us to make a choice.

(40)
Gary Crosby,
October 14, 2013 12:28 AM

reply to Caroline Glick

shalom;My lineage is Yiddish Jewry - I served with the US Navy in country Viet Nam - I attended a Passover service in Da Nang in 1968. Oliver Stone made a movie about Viet Nam. He should have read a book by Viktor Frankle - an Auschwitz survivor who said. "Auschwitz taught us what we are capable of and Hiroshima taught us what's at stake". It is obvious Mr. Stone or Mel Gibson still don't understand.My only wish for you is to find Joy and Happiness in your quest for Truth.ShalomDove

(39)
Jessica Rachel,
August 4, 2010 7:03 PM

Sad About Anti-Semitism

I was just on Youtube and someone commented, "Filthy jewish Pigs... we will terrorize you forever
Never forget that"
Sigh, things like this are why I live in an accepting town in the middle of nowhere... in a place where Jews are known for their programs for the elderly (and not just the Jewish elderly). Also, where I live you always give your friends a place to stay, even if they totally blew it. Maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better.... Either way, I'm fairly certain that we're about to go through more hard times, to say the least. HaShem help us... because we're gonna need an awful lot of help if this will be worldwide. If this is worldwide, we might lose more than 6 million lives. One more thought: Jews weren't the only ones accused of being Jews during the Holocaust.

(38)
SANTIAGO MARTINEZ FIGUEROA,
August 4, 2010 4:27 PM

In my country PUERTO RICO we have a saying "a donkeys prayer does not reach Heaven"oliver stone you can bray like the donkey you are WHO CARES.

(37)
Anonymous,
August 4, 2010 2:53 PM

Brotherly Love

I believe if you can't love your brother or sister who can you love? My mother studied genealogy and believe me, we are all brothers and sisters. It's sad that there are people that are made to be scape goats and also it seems that this article almost causes ill feelings against people that aren't Jewish. This world is G-ds world. I'm truly conflicted. Sincerely, Gina from Orange County, Ca.

(36)
Sarah,
August 3, 2010 5:34 PM

The World Is Gearing Up For Another Holocaust?

Please Jews around the world, wake up. The world is looking more and more like the late 1930s and early 1940s in Germany.
Only THIS time it's WORLDWIDE. And it's getting worse every day. It's become permitted to OPENLY hate Jews and Israel, and to do violence against us including murdering us, all over the world.
There will be no place to run, except one. Our homeland, Israel.
Please, don't let it be like Egypt, when 3/5ths or 4/5ths of us stayed behind and perished. Wake UP!

(35)
Miriam,
August 3, 2010 4:26 PM

there's another great article to read on this topic

There's a great article on bighollywood.breitbart.com called Oliver Stone is Right. It's fabulous.

(34)
,
August 3, 2010 3:35 PM

uncertain

"And yet, the anti-Zionists would have us believe that their opposition to the Jewish state has nothing to do with their feelings about Jews."
For certain some do try and disguise their Jew hatred by claiming only to be anti Zionist. That said it does seem to me that when Jews in Israel and in the Diaspora question the legitimicy of the Jewish State and are calling for policies to hasten its demise it's possible that they might be anti Zionsit without being antisemetic. The same may be true for some Gentiles. I also believe that the reverse is sometimes the case and that some Gentiles are both pro Zionist and antisemtic.
.

(33)
Barbara Dagen,
August 3, 2010 2:48 PM

Unbelievable how anti-semitism is so openly accepted and spreading world wide.

I always believed that there could be another Shoah including in the United States of America. I was always pooh-poohed. The more I read about what is going on in the world vis-a vis Israel and anti-semitism the more I believe that we have to be in Yimay Hamaseach. I do not believe that Israel and / the Jewish people are going down without the rest of the world joining us and the world being recreated by the Mosiach. Despite this belief, I can not begin to tell you how disturbing and down right frightening the increase in outward anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism.makes me feel. I feel like I have to prepare myself for all the horrors and terror our people have endured for centuries.Please G-d give the Jewish people the strength and wisdom to survive these difficult times.

(32)
indian,
August 3, 2010 9:27 AM

Keep on Keeping On [koko]

Beautiful article. Keep on writing , even if you feel stupid and exhausted, as long as you believe in what ur saying.
I read the article on Indians. [ no. 29] I thought it was very funny.Probably because I'm in India.
If a culture cannot take criticism/Humour, it is not worth surviving.

(31)
beverly sladon,
August 3, 2010 4:22 AM

this anti semitism gets more and more vile!!and the opponents stupider.

LET'S hope the moralitty of these people will be reflected in their so-called christianity....

(30)
ELLA VIVA,
August 3, 2010 3:19 AM

hoppfuly

hoppfuly the jewish people arround the world would put these 2 antisemites in the right place,they are not ashame to make such remrcks.i meant OLIVER STONE AND MEL GIBBSON,.ASHAME ON THEM.I'M NOT A JEW BUT I STAND UP WITH THEIR RIGHT.THE HOLLY LAND AND THE CHOOSEN PEOPLE.

(29)
Anonymous,
August 2, 2010 6:26 PM

Sometimes the role is reversed

Anti semitism is plain wrong and deserves to be condemned STRONGLY.However, recently Joel Stein wrote a "humourous' article in Time Magazine,which is racist,demeaning,and blatantly provocative to Indian immigrants of New Jersey.Shame on him! given the pain of anti semitism.The Coward would not try it with violent groups.

(28)
Antonio Perez,
August 2, 2010 5:38 PM

Blame the Jews for everything we don't like

Yes, yes it's all the Jews fault! They own all the banks. Nothing gets past their approval. Everything wrong in the world is because of the Jews. You'd think their (the accusers') brains were plugged into the anti-semitic "Protocol of the Elders". As if non-Jews did no evil and were perfect and exempliary. Give me a break! Jews have contributed so much good to the world, to medicine, to society, to finances, to charities, to peace, to technology, to entertainment, to humor, to compassion, etc., etc., etc. I get very tired of Jew hating. It's a good thing that these incidents are pointed out, that people single out a single people to dump on and instigate hate. As if Iran wasn't enough. And I know alot of Iranians who agree with me and believe it's time to stop hating the Jews and Israel. Thank you.

(27)
yehudit levy,
August 2, 2010 3:50 PM

2 more comments

1. We Jews should stop worrying about what people say and focus on what WE DO. That's our mission.
2. The tragedy here is not that yet another non-Jew hates us. The real tragedy will be if the Jews of Hollywood do not boycott him. Press is good for Oliver Stone. Losing money is not. I guess he forgot that the "Jews control Hollywood" too.... well, maybe it didn't bother him. Let it bother him NOW.

(26)
Shushan,
August 2, 2010 3:08 PM

Amen #23

the usa and nato murdered over 50 afghan civilians in 1 bombing run last week and the UN with cia agent ehud baraks approval has an investigation into Israel stopping a ship

(25)
nathan,
August 2, 2010 3:07 PM

Scared

Jew need to quit caving in to the world and need to start sharing the message of Judaism to the world. Christian Missionaries spread their message. We, with the truth, have been taught to stay silent out of fear. It is time to wake up and be braver than the generations before us. Gentiles having converted to Judaism are some of the most celebrated among us. Let's be bold and brave and search out the next one.

(24)
Joe,
August 2, 2010 2:28 PM

Oliver Stone probably got a pass from the media because his father is Jewish. As far as the anti-semitism in Malmo, the culprits are all muslim. as is in most of the other anti-semitic incidents in western europe.

(23)
Doron,
August 2, 2010 10:38 AM

Evil is Showing its Ugly Face

When we step back, it is plain to see that evil in the world is becoming bolder and bolder. Why? Because, we let it...

(22)
compugraphd,
August 2, 2010 6:43 AM

As Usual, Caroline Glick hits the nail on the head

As usual, Caroline Glick hits the nail on the head. Thanks for continuing to write, Caroline.
I also write about Israel on my blog at http://israelanditsplaceintheworld.blogspot.com/

(21)
yehudit levy,
August 2, 2010 6:26 AM

I am also sorry....

I am also sorry you had to write this article, brilliant as it is. I often wonder to mysef what would happen if we ourselves remained "thunderously silent" in the press after a vicious slander? Would the outspoken offender be forced to put tail between legs and miss out on a much needed publicity boost? perhaps. As we often tell children, "He/she just does it to get a reaction. If you ignore it, he will get bored and stop"
I guess dreaming that anti-semitic outbursts are like a mutant form of sibling rivalry is perhaps a little too much wishful thinking....

(20)
DINA.HOROVITZ,
August 2, 2010 3:09 AM

wake up world

wake up world,.hope there are no more there kind of creatures,Mell Gobson andOliver Stone.Mell is a christian church man I can't beleave how antesimt he is and Oliver Stone has to be ashamed even to think about what he said.These people have a mjor problem ,unfortunately no body can help them'DROGS AND DRINK.I fell sorry for them

(19)
Linda Bellamy,
August 2, 2010 12:17 AM

Choosen

Oliver Stone is crazy to say those thing's about the Jewish people I will never watch another of his movies. If his grandmother or sister, father or brother had been in one of those gas camber's I'm sure he would have a very differant view of our history.

My greatest regret is that I am not shocked. The world is round as they say, and once again it seems to be standing on it's head.

(16)
Steve,
August 1, 2010 6:53 PM

Everything is anti-Semitism?

Great article, but the comments equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism are just plain wrong. Lots of Europeans- and Jews- dislike ALL nationalist movements. The attempt to paint anti-nationalists with anti-Semitism is a deliberate effort to shield Zionists from criticism. Why not just admit it- lots of us simply refuse to consider criticism from gentiles, and automatically attribute it to anti-Semitism? If we're going to play on the world stage, we can't reasonably attribute every criticism to a secret desire to kill all of us.

(15)
Carmin Rosenthal,
August 1, 2010 6:41 PM

Murder vs. Killed in action

We should be clear that murder is different than, killed in action, or war casualties. 6 million Jews were murdered, 5 million non-Jews were murdered, not killed.
Shalom

(14)
Anonymous,
August 1, 2010 6:41 PM

Here we go again

What a ridiculous title, "...out-of-the-closet Jew haters".
Oliver Stone is NOT a Jew-hater. He was just stating the obvious and easily proven historical facts and is brave enough to speak out, just like Norman Finkelstein, one of the greatest Jewish intellectuals of modern time. Seriously, this constant name calling is getting old and quite absurd! Grow up and stop whining and complaining like little kids!!

(13)
M. Garcia,
August 1, 2010 5:00 PM

unbelievable and horrifying

It is incomprehensible to me that people can still spew forth such hatred and historical untruths and not be held to account. Oliver Stone, as is obvious from his movies, has never been closely acquainted with the truth. But I am horrified at the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe--have they forgotten all the lessons of World War II already? Thank you for publishing this, since mainstream media seem to ignore such things.

(12)
Jenny,
August 1, 2010 4:42 PM

excellent article and synopsis

(11)
Linda Gheorghiu,
August 1, 2010 4:32 PM

G-d loves all his children!

Please wake up people. Someday we all have to answer for our stupid behavior. Condemning someone just because they are Jew, Gentile, Muslim or anyone else is stupid!!!!!

...history repeats itself. A weak Jewish state has no chance of survival. Common sense diplomacy does not work. Holocaust can happen again worldwide.

(8)
Betsie Saltzberg,
August 1, 2010 3:58 PM

Moving to Israel

You have reinforced what my mother had told me for decades: Get your passport & be ready to leave the United States at a moment's notice. I am ready!

(7)
Anna,
August 1, 2010 3:54 PM

another arrogant "celebraty"

I watched O. Stone interview will Bill Maher. After just a few minutes into the conversation it was clear to me that nobody could follow his thought process. Was very confusing and didn't make any sense. Unfortunately antisemitism is nothing new and will remain with us for ever.

(6)
Joanne,
August 1, 2010 3:51 PM

Well Said, But Preaching to the Choir

Of course, there may later be comments by the people you are describing, who even come to Aish.com to vent their spurious spleen. It is amazing and horrifying how many self-hating Jews there are, worldwide and in Israel.

(5)
lisa,
August 1, 2010 3:28 PM

There is nothing new under the sun.

"Esav soneh et Yakov". Esav hates Yaakov .....that's what we have been dealing with since the beginning of time. There is no real answer...we just need to be educated to know how to face those who do hate us & always will hate us.

(4)
Bobby,
August 1, 2010 3:27 PM

We are at war

Why are the biggest jew haters, are Liberals Jews themselves

(3)
Irving,
August 1, 2010 2:59 PM

Great article.

(2)
Anonymous,
August 1, 2010 2:31 PM

Don't be sorry about the article based on the fact that you think people are looking to excuse for evil. I, being careful of not being a buyer of lashon hara, need to know who is anti semetic so as not to suppot them buy being influenced by, or buying their products or services.

This year during Chanukah I will be on a wilderness survival trip, and it will be very difficult to properly celebrate the holiday. I certainty won't be able to bring along a Menorah.

So if I am going to celebrate only one day of Chanukah, which is the most significant?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

If a person can only celebrate one day of Chanukah, he should celebrate the first day.

This is similar to a case where a person is in prison, and the authorities agree to permit him to go to synagogue one day. The law is that he should go at the first opportunity, and not wait for a more important day like the High Holidays.

The reason is because one should not allow the opportunity of a mitzvah to pass. Moreover, it is quite conceivable that circumstances will later change and allow for additional observance. Therefore, we do not let the first chance pass. (Sources: Code of Jewish Law OC 90, Mishnah Berurah 28.)

As an important aside, Chanukah candles must be lit in (or at the entrance to) a home rather than out of doors. Thus, you should not light in actual "wilderness," but only after you've pitched your tent for the night.

There may be another reason why the first night is the one to focus on. Chanukah is celebrated for eight days to commemorate the one-day supply of oil that miraculously burned for eight days. But if you think about it, since there was enough oil to burn naturally for one night, nothing miraculous happened on that first night! So why shouldn't Chanukah be just seven days?!

There are many wonderful answers given to this question, highlighting the special aspect of the first day. Here are a few:

1) True, the miracle of the oil did not begin until the second day, and lasted for only seven days. But the Sages designated the first day of Chanukah in commemoration of the miraculous military victory.

2) Having returned to the Temple and found it in shambles, the Jews had no logical reason to think they would find any pure oil. The fact that the Maccabees didn't give up hope, and then actually found any pure oil at all, is in itself a miracle.

3) The Sages chose Chanukah, a festival that revolves around oil's ability to burn, as the time to teach the fundamental truth that even so-called "natural" events take place only because God wants them to.

The Talmudic Sage Rabbi Chanina Ben Dosa expressed this truth in explaining a miracle that occurred in his own home. Once, his daughter realized that she had lit the Shabbos candles with vinegar instead of oil. Rabbi Chanina calmed her, saying, "Why are you concerned! The One Who commanded oil to burn, can also command vinegar to burn!" The Talmud goes on to say that those Shabbos lights burned bright for many hours (Taanit 25a).

To drive this truth home, the Sages decreed that Chanukah be observed for eight days: The last seven to commemorate the miracle of the Menorah, and the first to remind us that even the “normal” burning of oil is only in obedience to God's wish.

In closing, I'm not sure what's stopping you from celebrating more than one day? At a minimum, you can light one candle sometime during the evening, and that fulfills the mitzvah of Chanukah - no “official Menorah” necessary. With so much joy to be had, why limit yourself to one night only?!

In 165 BCE, the Maccabees defeated the Greek army and rededicated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Finding only one jar of pure oil, they lit the Menorah, which miraculously burned for eight days. Also on this day -- 1,100 years earlier -- Moses and the Jewish people completed construction of the Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary that accompanied them during 40 years of wandering in the desert. The Tabernacle was not dedicated, however, for another three months; tradition says that the day of Kislev 25 was then "compensated" centuries later -- when the miracle of Chanukah occurred and the Temple was rededicated. Today, Jews around the world light a Chanukah menorah, to commemorate the miracle of the oil, and its message that continues to illuminate our lives today.

A person who utilizes suffering to arouse himself in spiritual matters will find consolation. He will recognize that even though the suffering was difficult for him, it nevertheless helped him for eternity.

When you see yourself growing spiritually through your suffering, you will even be able to feel joy because of that suffering.

They established these eight days of Chanukah to give thanks and praise to Your great Name(Siddur).

Jewish history is replete with miracles that transcend the miracle of the Menorah. Why is the latter so prominently celebrated while the others are relegated to relative obscurity?

Perhaps the reason is that most other miracles were Divinely initiated; i.e. God intervened to suspend the laws of nature in order to save His people from calamity.

The miracle of the Menorah was something different. Having defeated the Seleucid Greek invaders, the triumphant Jews entered the Sanctuary. There they found that they could light the Menorah for only one day, due to a lack of undefiled oil. Further, they had no chance of replenishing the supply for eight days. They did light the Menorah anyway, reasoning that it was best to do what was within their ability to do and to postpone worrying about the next day until such worry was appropriate. This decision elicited a Divine response and the Menorah stayed lit for that day and for seven more.

This miracle was thus initiated by the Jews themselves, and the incident was set down as a teaching for all future generations: concentrate your efforts on what you can do, and do it! Leave the rest to God.

While even our best and most sincere efforts do not necessarily bring about miracles, the teaching is nevertheless valid. Even the likelihood of failure in the future should not discourage us from any constructive action that we can take now.

Today I shall...

focus my attention on what it is that I can do now, and do it to the best of my ability.

With stories and insights,
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